Ending the Eridium
by Shadowbane2243
Summary: Maya has a problem, and so turns to the one person she knows with the kind of experience she needs. But will Lilith help her?
1. Siren's Curse

Maya took a deep breath, standing in front of Lilith's house. "Ok, you can do this." She stepped up to the door and knocked. After waiting several moments, she closed her eyes, took another deep breath, and knocked again.

"I'm coming, hang on!" Lilith opened the door. "Sup?"

Maya crossed her arms, looking down at her feet. "You mind if I come in for a bit? I need to talk about something."

"Sure. Come on in." Lilith opened the door wider, letting Maya pass through. Maya sat on the couch and folded her hands, but she soon began rubbing them together instead. Lilith sat down in a chair opposite her. "What's the matter?"

Maya sighed. "You know how Eridium made your powers a lot more… well, powerful?"

"Of course. I stopped using it though after Handsome Jack pumped me full of it though. My powers were going crazy. It wasn't easy getting off that stuff, let me tell you."

Maya hesitated, staring at her hands, clenching her tattooed hand. "I started using Eridium about a week after we found you."

Lilith nodded. "So how'd that work?"

"Well, my phaselock can kill almost anything short of a badass with Helios alone now."

"That's hot."

"I hope you're talking about how the Helios burns."

"Maybe. But still, that's good, right?"

"There's more though. If my Helios kills an enemy, they explode."

"…Ok, that's badass."

"Except for when I found that out. Zer0 and I were out on a mission. We just had to clear out a few bandits just outside town. Easy. We got to the last few, and I phaselocked one while shooting another in the head. Zer0 took care of the rest, and then sliced at the one I had phaselocked. The Helios finished him off and he exploded, like I said. But it hit Zer0."

"Impossible."

"I wish. It launched him into a storage container. Broke most of his ribs, and Dr. Zed says he's lucky his spine is in one piece."

"Have you tried controlling it?"

"Of course I have!" Maya yelled. "I'm not stupid! I went to the Circle of Slaughter with Axton and fought to keep him from getting hurt. But no matter what, he could always feel a burn when an enemy exploded. I've tried focusing positive thoughts on him, blocking him from my mind, focusing all my anger and frustration on just the enemy. That last one only made it worse."

"Then you have to stop using Eridium, or this will be permanent."

"I've tried." Maya was almost crying now. "But I can barely last a day without craving it again. Then when I start again it's even worse." She put her head in her hands, hating her powers for the umpteenth time that she could remember.

Lilith fought to keep from crying herself. She knew exactly what Maya was going through. Heck, she had spent 3 months trying to quit Eridium before she looked to Mordecai for help. She got up and sat next to Maya, putting her arm around her. "So why'd you come to me with this? Not Axton or Zer0"

Despite herself, Maya laughed. "Seriously? Axton would rant at me for ages before he'd even start listening, and I really don't need that right now. Zer0, I don't know if he could really help. We don't even actually know if he's human. Besides, I feel awful for what I did to him."

Lilith sighed. "Alright. I'll help."

Maya let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. "

"One thing though. If I'm going to help you, you have to stay here with me" Maya opened her mouth, but Lilith cut her off. "I have to be able to keep an eye on you so I know you aren't sneaking Eridium. This isn't anything against you. I tried the same thing for a while when Mordecai helped me out with my addiction."

Maya's eyebrows furrowed. "That's a bit creepy really."

"Oh come on, I'm pretty sure he has a bigger interest in his bird than girls."

"That's even creepier."

"That's not what I- know what? You're right, that's weird." The two sirens chuckled.

Maya sobered up again. "Any idea how long this is going to take?"

Now it was Lilith's turn to sigh. "Honestly, it could be anywhere from a week to a month I think."

Maya's eyes bulged. "A month?! How am I supposed to leave the guys on their own for a month?"

"They're big boys. They can take care of themselves."

"You don't know Sal. He's a maniac! He'd get himself killed in seconds if I wasn't covering him so often!"

"He can take a hit better than anyone!.. Except maybe Brick."

"Axton is too reliant on his turret."

"Have you seen that thing at full potential? It tore through most of the last wave of the Circle of Slaughter."

"But-"

"Zer0 can always use his Deception if he gets in trouble, Gaige's Deathtrap could probably take down the Warrior on his own, and I rarely see Krieg flinch from any kind of hit."

"So what, I'm not even needed by them?"

"No, you're one of a group of 6 badass vault hunters, each of which can tear apart nearly anything on the planet with their bare hands but who stick together anyway cause they started as a team and they see no reason to pull that apart."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Ok, stop flattering me already." She sighed. "Fine, I'll stay here. Now what?"

"Wanna grab some pizza? I'm starving."

Maya's eyebrows rose again. "Seriously? I meant what to do about my addiction!"

"Well, not much we can do until you start craving it again."

"I thought I had to stay in the house?"

"You only have to stay in the house so you can stay in my sight. I just have to be able to watch your ass."

"Literally or figuratively?"

"Both"

Maya threw her hands in the air. "Fine, let's go get pizza."

They stood up, and while they were walking to Moxxi's, Lilith called Axton on her Echo.

"Yeah?"

"WHO IS IT?"

"Seriously Sal? Do you always have to yell?"

"WHY NOT? GOT A PROBLEM WITH IT?"

Axton sighed. "No. Whaddya want Lilith?"

Lilith shook her head in wonder. How grown men could be so immature, she would never understand. "Maya's gonna be staying with me for a while" Maya glanced her way until Lilith mouthed "Axton" at her. She nodded and turned forward again.

"You sure you two don't need supervision?"

"I'm sure Axton."

"Alright. How long you gonna keep your girlfriend over there? Day or two? Or is this one of those one night stands?"

"Maya's right. You are obsessed with sex." Maya turned to her and mouthed "I told you so", then turned forward just in time to run into the doorframe of Moxxi's. Lilith snickered, and then answered "A week or two. A month at most. Just don't wait up for her. Go kill all the bandits you want."

"Alright. You girls have fun" he hung up, leaving the siren to shake her head.

"Hey Moxxi! Could we get a pizza over here?" She called across the room.

"Sure thing sugar. Be ready in a half hour."

"Should have called ahead" she mumbled, and then sat down across from Maya at a booth.

They sat in silence for a while until Maya broke it. "How… What did you end up going through when you were killing your addiction?"

Lilith was silent for a while. "I was shaky for a while. Like when you haven't eaten in a while. I felt really weak too. I'd get angry at almost anything, which was probably the hardest part for Mordy." She grinned a bit before it changed to a frown. "But the worst part for me was the nightmares. I'd see all sorts of horrible things. Handsome Jack torturing people, including me. Including my team. And yours." She paused for a bit, and then continued on, almost whispering, eyes shining. "I saw Roland die. Over and over again. Not just the way he really died. I saw him tortured, beaten, torn apart limb from limb. I even saw Jack dissecting him once. I saw monsters tearing through Sanctuary. I saw you guys getting mauled by them. And I couldn't do anything. Not because it was a dream. But because I was terrified. How could I stand up to these monsters if they could destroy all of that so quickly? So easily?" Tears fell from her eyes even as she fought to stop them.

Maya hesitated, then reached across and held Lilith's hand. "That's not going to happen. Look, whether legend or blatant threat, we've always managed to kill it. The Warrior, Jack, Terramorphous. None of them could stand up to us. We've never heard of anything bigger than Terramorphous. And if we ever do, we'll beat it. We always have."

Lilith smiled slightly. "Thanks."

"Pizza's done hon!"

"That was a short half hour" Lilith stood up and walked up to the bar.

"You and your lady friend having a good time?"

Lilith threw up her hands. "Why does everyone assume we're dating?"

"I never said that, did I now?"

"It was implied"

"Mhmm" Moxxi finished cutting up the pizza and folded up the box around it. "There ya go hon."

"Thanks Moxxi" Lilith tossed the cost on the bar before walking back to her booth with the pizza.

"Lilith, we need to get out of here."

"Why do you-oh shit. You're right." The sirens could both sense it. Someone nearby had Eridium, and a lot of it. The stood up and walked out, taking the pizza with them. Lilith followed behind Maya, and noticed her shiver. Lilith frowned. It wasn't even cold out. Heck, they were in the middle of the desert! It wasn't the cold causing the shivers. Lilith sighed and put one arm around Maya. _This is gonna be a long ass job._


	2. Two Minute Job

**{A/N} No real idea how long this story is going to go, kinda depends how much filler I can come up with between what I had planned right from the beginning. So if you enjoy the story, throw me some ideas and we can keep the chapters rolling.**

**Also, mild forewarning, gets a little bit gruesome here.**

Lilith walked back into the house after a talk with Tannis. It was the next morning, and she knew it wouldn't be possible to stay in the house all day, especially with an Eridium craving siren around. So she had looked around for a small job, something the two could get done by themselves. Maya had been sleeping when she left, and she doubted she had been gone long enough for Maya to try anything. She walked up the stairs to the room she had set up for Maya to find her still there sleeping. "Lazy ass." She muttered. Then she grinned, crouched down beside the bed so her face was right next to Maya's. "Rise and SHIIIINE!" she yelled the last part, resulting in Maya screaming, shooting upright, and falling off the small bed in a matter of seconds. Lilith stood up, laughing. "I'll go get some breakfast ready." Maya mumbled something in response, but Lilith didn't hear it over her own continued laughter. "Nice butt, by the way."

When Maya finally made it downstairs where Lilith was, she punched the elder siren. "Couldn't have found a nicer way to do it?"

"Well, I could have, but wouldn't have been as much fun." Lilith replied with a smirk. "Besides, I got a nice show at the same time." Maya started into her food as Lilith continued "Since we're going to be bored off our asses staying in here the whole time, I got us a small job to do to help pass the time. Tannis ordered some special grenades that she wanted to experiment on, but they got stolen by some bandits. We just have to get that back."

Maya swallowed, then asked "That's it? That's, like, a two minute job!"

"Yeah, well, not many jobs out here that need only two hunters."

"I think we can safely be called mercenaries until another Vault shows up."

"Yeah, but that just sounds so… boring."

"I think what we usually do makes up for the name." Maya finished her breakfast. "So where to?"

* * *

><p>"Hiya there cutie!" Ellie waved from inside her garage.<p>

"Hey Ellie." Lilith replied. "Tannis said you saw the bandits that stole her package?"

"Hard to miss 'em what with all that whoopin' and hollerin' they does. Went up to their camp on the mountain. Ya'll need one of Scooter's vehicles to ramp in."

"Done that before. Might as well just take one vehicle Lilith, they're useless once we're in."

Ellie rounded on Maya. "Did you just call a vehicle… useless?" Her voice was deadly as she was round.

Maya's eyes grew wide. "I-I-I meant that w-we wouldn't be able to drive in there, so there's no point in having an extra vehicle."

"No point to a vehicle?" Ellie's eyes had narrowed to slits now, and she was leaning towards Maya, making the whole situation that much more awkward.

"I-I mean, I-I guess the turret w-would work great, b-but the car would be stuck, s-so-"

"Maya, stop digging your own grave and get in the scooter."

Ellie blinked and straightened up. "Scooter? You call it a scooter?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

Ellie continued to stand, blinking. "But it has… 4 wheels… not 2."

"They belong to Scooter. Why not call them scooters?"

Ellie didn't respond, and eventually the siren duo simply drove off.

* * *

><p>They drove up the ramp into Goose's Roost, landing nicely in the middle of a clearing that was soon filled with bandits.<p>

"Well, master of explosions." Lilith nudged Maya. "Let's see what you can do."

Maya smirked, lifting her hand and capturing a badass in her sphere. She shot it once in the head, and it exploded, burning up several surrounding bandits. She made quick work of the few remainders, usually using a quick bullet to the head as they peeked around the various containers surrounding the area. The few times she missed or they dodged simply meant the bandit got a few bullets in the chest instead. She stood, gun extended, waiting for another bandit to appear, but none came. "See what I mean? This won't take long at all."

"You have the grenades yet?" Lilith asked. Maya shook her head. "Then stop complaining and keep that cute ass moving."

"I think I'm just gonna walk behind you, if you don't mind." Maya muttered.

"What, don't want to put on a show like this morning?"

"I was brought up in a monastery. Of course I don't."

"I thought all those years of being cooped up would make you want to let loose."

"Except I wouldn't have even known what you mean by a 'show' if you hadn't so aptly demonstrated it in front of half the town."

"I told you, it was an accident! I wasn't expecting my pants to rip like that!"

"Keep telling yourself that."

"And you blew up the scooter."

Maya waved her off "It was a rental."

They kept walking, tossing occasional glares at each other until they realized how childish it was and glared at the ground instead. A maniacal laugh brought both of their heads up to see a swarm of bandits coming towards them, with a massive man in rusty armor following behind, holding a shield that towered as high as he did. "Tear 'em apart and feed 'em to the crows!"

Maya glanced at Lilith. "He means Rakk, right?"

"Probably."

The bandits fired their first shots, absorbed by the sirens' shields. They dove behind cover and checked on their shields. These bandits were strong! Lilith dove over the container she was hid behind and phase-walked through most of the bandits until she reached the monster in the rear. She leapt up to his head and slammed her palm into it, but his energy shield absorbed the hit. He swung his physical shield, catching her in the side and sending her tumbling to the ground. Maya threw a grenade into the mob of bandits before attempting a phase-lock on the huge bandit, but it simply caused damage to him instead. His energy shield **still **hadn't broken! _Where did these guys come from?_ She shook her head, letting loose a clip from her SMG, pouring corrosive damage on the giant. Lilith pulled a shotgun from behind him and let loose her own clip, shock damage whittling away at his shield. He turned on her to slam her with his shield again, but she phase-walked and ran behind him again, hitting him again to finally break through his shield.

"You cannot break the Juggernaut!" He shouted, slamming the ground. The shockwave knocked Lilith away, shattering her shield as she slammed into a rock. He turned on her with what looked like a Gatling gun and let loose. She sprinted sideways, keeping just ahead of his bullets before she dove behind another container, waiting for her shield to regenerate. Maya was hiding as well, her shield only barely intact after taking out a small portion of the bandits. She threw another grenade around the corner and blasted away another pair, breaking the shields of a few others. Maya stood up and began firing at the bandits again, focusing on the ones without shields. Lilith glanced down as a "clunk" sounded behind her and saw a grenade there. She dove from her cover just as the grenade exploded, sending her to the ground with shrapnel embedded in her skin, burning away at her flesh.

"Lilith!"

"Judgement is brought down like meteors!" Juggernaut screamed as he unleashed another flurry of bullets at the downed siren, slowly walking towards her. Lilith was helpless and took several bullets before collapsing to the ground, motionless.

"Lilith!" Maya screamed again before rounding on Juggernaut. "You do not…" her arm burned like fire from the sun itself. "hurt…" the pain crawled up her arm, spreading through her chest and descending down her left leg. "LILITH!" Her entire body burned as she reached out and grasped the Juggernaut in a phase-lock, burning the bandits nearby. Maya charged into the other bandits, firing bullets faster than the Juggernaut's Gatling, melting nearby bandits with her aura of power. Juggernaut fell out of the phase-lock, then ran to a transport station nearby. Maya continued tearing apart the bandits, flicking out her hand to phase-lock Lilith. The siren rose to her feet, fire burning in her eyes.

She phase-walked towards the Juggernaut, leaping up to slam her fist into him again, unprotected by his shield. Before she could, however, he turned to her, grinning, before dropping another grenade and disappearing in a flash of code. The grenade exploded, not affecting her in her phased state, but destroying the station. She connected with the ground and turned to help Maya with the bandits, only to let her jaw drop in amazement.

Maya's phase-lock was jumping from one bandit to another, killing them the moment it connected, as well as several surrounding bandits, before moving to a new target. Maya herself was surrounded in a purplish aura as she charged through the bandits. The aura burned the bandits with green fire that sparked like lightning, tearing through shields, armor, and flesh nearly instantaneously. Near the edge of the fight, several bandits were firing their guns on each other, screaming nonsense. Within seconds, the bandit swarm became a small crowd before disappearing in a messy sea of bodies.

Maya stood, her aura fading, in the middle of the bandits. A circle of burnt ground surrounded her, and she glanced around at it before looking at Lilith. Her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed to the ground.

"Maya!" Lilith sprinted towards the siren, kneeling beside her and checking for a pulse. She found it easily enough, pumping fast as it was after the fight. She let out a sigh of relief, scooping up the siren and glancing around before remembering. Their scooter was destroyed. She hung her head, sighing. _Guess I'm walking then. _She glanced at the younger siren. _But how on earth did she do that?_

**{A/N} Have to say, this chapter was mostly made on the fly, so sorry for poor quality. Also, New-U stations don't exist here, or nothing would be all that scary. "Oh no, Mordecai died, let's wait for a few seconds so he can catch up." See what I mean? Follows, favorites, advice, compliments and rude remarks always appreciated… some more than others. Bane out! **


End file.
